10 posts from June 2007

June 28, 2007

Fourteen cities named Springfield are competing to host the hometown premiere of The Simpsons Movie, and the voting will take place here on USATODAY.com beginning Monday. Click here and vote for Springfield, KY.

The winning city will be announced on or around July 10.

Many areas saw appreciable rain on Thursday... more will roll through central Kentucky this evening. Some areas picked up as much as 2 to 3 inches. There is still a chance for a shower through midday Friday.

The weekend forecast looks great. Partly to mostly sunny skies Saturday & Sunday with low humidity and highs in the mid 80s! Perfect weather for the lake or river!

I'm off for the next week or so... and will be back in the station on July 9th. I'll try to update the blog a few times during that time. When I return I'll be on the 7PM show Tuesday, but then on Sunrise... in for Tom... for several weeks (from July 11th - at least the 25th).

June 27, 2007

Louisville - More rain is on the way... Showers and thunderstorms will be across the region again tomorrow. Many areas will see measurable rain tomorrow evening & tomorrow night. Some areas will see as much as one to two inches. Rain will end by midday Friday across the area with clearing skies Friday Night. This sets the stage for a nice sunny weekend with low humidity & pleasant temperatures.

Lake Tahoe, CA - Firefighters racing the weather for control of a turbulent wildfire near this popular resort got a bit of a break Wednesday. The wind may pick up later in the day, but the extra few hours of calm allowed firefighters to fortify their lines. Over 200 homes and businesses have been destroyed with a price tag of more than $150 million dollars. Read more here.

Southern Plains - Lashing storms dumped up to 18 inches of rain on parts of central Texas, flooding several towns and stranding dozens of people on rooftops, cars and in trees Wednesday. The rain was heaviest in the Marble Falls area, about 40 miles northwest of Austin in the Texas Hill Country, where Mayor Raymond Whitman said there were 32 high-water rescues. Much of the water had receded by Wednesday afternoon, but as much as 10 inches of rain was forecast to fall in the region overnight. Read more here.

Johannesburg, South Africa - Freezing temperatures, the result of an extreme cold front, brought snow to the Highveld, with Joburgers waking up to an unusual site – a winter wonderland outside their windows. Four inches of snow fell in some places, making this the first snowfall there in 26 years and only the 2nd one in 39 years. Read the entire story by Millicent Kgowedi by clicking here.

New York - Weather blamed for 375,000 homes without power in New York. Lightning could be to blame for the massive outage. Storm with heavy lightning were moving across Westchester County, just north of the city, when the problems started around 3:45 this afternoon. The outage disrupted some subway routes & traffic lights.

June 24, 2007

It's been a wet weekend in parts of the region. I spent part of the weekend at Rough River and it started storming late Saturday afternoon and rained all night. Totals near the lake were near 2 inches. Those were common total west on Interstate 65 with lesser amounts to the east. Click on the maps to see radar estimated rainfall totals. (COLOR CODE: Dark Blue = 0.50", Light Green = 1", Dark Green = 2", Yellow = 3", Orange = 4", Red = 5")

Regardless, area farmers were thankful to see the rain... they need much more. It looks like there are a few more chances in the forecast as the upcoming week unfolds. The first chance is this evening & overnight.

I'll keep a small rain chance in the forecast early Tuesday... with a much better chance Thursday & Friday. Here's the forecast for later in the week.

June 19, 2007

It rained... some areas picked up as much as 2 to 3 inches. Those higher totals were in southern KY near Lake Cumberland. Most areas saw totals that were much lower. Downtown totals were near a half inch. Average amounts, as forecast, were between a quarter and one half inch.

The cold front has pushed past the area and the rain has ended. We'll have a few dry days ahead... then another small chance for showers & storms as we approach the weekend. Look for temperature to be pleasant tomorrow with low humidity. The 90s return later in the week!

KidCasters... Do you know someone who is interested in doing weather on TV. They'll have a chance to do just that on the 7:00 PM news with me. Auditions are coming up... click here for all the details!

June 18, 2007

What was that falling from the sky? It's been some time since we've seen rain. There's a small chance for a few showers or an isolated storm this evening, but a better chance overnight & early tomorrow.

Despite the rain chances... the totals will not be drought-busting. While some places will pick-up a quarter to one half inch we'll take what we can get! The latest forecast has the drought persisting through the summer in some form. You can see we're still in a moderate to severe drought across the region.

Think cool... Here's a picture a friend sent me from Pike's Peak. It recently snowed in the high elevation, 14,110 feet above sea level. Did you know... Katharine Lee Bates wrote the words to the classic American anthem "America The Beautiful" after her trip to the summit of Pikes Peak in 1893.

I spent much of the weekend at the lake. I love being on the water... and I'm learning how to wakeboard! The water temperature was perfect, near 80. It was hot both Saturday & Sunday... highs were in the low to mid 90s both days. (no that's not me in the picture... but it will be one of these days.)

June 12, 2007

Riddle Of The Day: What can go up a chimney down, but cannot go down a chimney up? The answer is below.

With the driest months ahead... it's never good to see a dry 7 day forecast this time of the year. The ground moisture evaporates so quickly when it's not replenished. The map on the left (click in it to make it larger) shows how much precipitation is needed to break the drought status. More will be needed if the current forecast pans out.

It appears that with the dry conditions will come plenty of heat. I have the next 7 days, starting tomorrow, with highs in the 90s. I wanted to look back to see how many 90 degree days we had last year. The graphic on the left shows what I found.

With no chance for rain... there is no chance for severe weather today. You will notice the slight risk for severe storms today across the Plains & in the southeast.

Air Quality will be in the moderate range today and tomorrow. Here's the scale (Good, Moderate, Unhealthy For Sensitive Groups, Unhealthy, Very Unhealthy). For the latest Air Quality Index you can call: 502.574.3319

High pressure will control our weather for the next few days. This delivers an abundant amount of sunshine until humidity levels increase by Friday... then we'll see partly sunny skies.

Here's the forecast...

Riddle Of The Day Answer: What can go up a chimney down, but cannot go down a chimney up? An Umbrella!

June 11, 2007

Here's the riddle of the day: How high would you have to count before you would use the letter A in the English language spelling of a whole number? Find the answer below.

It looks like a warm & dry week ahead. Most areas saw at least some rain last week. However, with sunshine, low humidity & warm temperatures the ground dries out very fast

We're not alone in the dry category. Lake Okeechobee in Florida, the 2nd largest body of fresh water in the U.S. is dry in places. As a matter of fact it's the driest south Florida has been since records began in the late 1800s. It would take 50+ inches of rain to bring that area out of the drought.

Severe weather chances continue across South Carolina, Eastern Georgia & the Dakota's today. Scattered thunderstorms will develop this afternoon in these locations.

Here's how it maps out over the next 24 hours

Here's the forecast for Today, Tonight & Tomorrow

Here's the forecast for the next 7 days

Here's the answer for the riddle of the day: How high would you have to count before you would use the letter A in the English language spelling of a whole number? One Thousand

June 06, 2007

Take a look at these picture from I-64 near the river this morning. Visibilities were reduced to near 0 this morning. The first picture was taken at 7:00 AM - visibility was 0.06 miles. The second picture was taken at 9:00 AM - visibility was 1.0 mile. The third picture was taken at 11:00 AM - visibility was 6.0 miles.

Temperatures will push into the mid 80s today. That's slightly above normal... it get warmer for tomorrow. Highs tomorrow will bump into the low to mid 90s. A combination of sunshine & gusty winds (15 to 30mph) from the south will warm us up!

Another severe weather outbreak is possible in the Plains today. This system will gradually move east. While most of the energy will stay to our north we'll still a chance for strong storms Friday (especially late in the day). Strong winds will be possible late Friday.

Could it be severe weather twice in one week? It's possible. Tuesday's severe weather produced golf ball size hail in Oldham, Franklin, Woodford & Fayette Counties in Kentucky. Wind damage was also reported in Eastern Shelby & Franklin Counties. No verification of the tornado warning that was issued has been made.

I've taken the rain chance out of the weekend forecast. It's looking like partly sunny skies with highs in the mid 80s for both Saturday & Sunday!

June 04, 2007

I'm in for Tom for the next two weeks. That means an alarm clock going off at 2:15 AM. It's not my favorite shift, but Tom is taking some well deserved time off.

Scattered showers & storms were developing on Storm Cutter HD radar by late morning. We'll see more and more showers & storms fire up this afternoon. Most will remain below severe limits, but heavy rain, gusty winds & small hail will be possible. Click here for the latest Storm Cutter HD radar view.

Speaking of rain... the remnants of Tropical Storm Barry prompted flood warnings in the northeast today, including New York City.

The rains from the same storm were needed further south. Some places in Florida, Georgia and North & South Carolina picked up 7 to 8 inches of rain.

Temperatures will be near 80 degrees today... and in the upper 70s tomorrow. That's a couple degrees below normal. Don't get used to it though. The warmest temperatures of the season so far will arrive later in the week. We're talking highs in the lower 90s.

Severe weather chances will go up later in the week too. I think the best chance will actually be very late Thursday night & perhaps another chance for some rough weather on Friday. This is still several days away and the forecast will have to be updated. Check out what the Storm Prediction Center is saying by clicking here. It looks like an impressive storm system, with a potential major tornado outbreak for parts of Nebraska & Kansas by mid to late week. The only fly in the ointment so to speak will be the capping. That's the warmer air aloft that doesn't cool fast enough to allow storm development. Think of the atmosphere as a pressure cooker... for storms to explode the lid has to be lifted (that's the cap). You want enough of a cap to keep the energy in, enough to keep the atmosphere percolating. However, too much of a cap will eliminate the vertical development of storms. Many things can affect the cap... we'll have to see how things unfold over the next day or so.

June 01, 2007

I introduced you to David Drummond last week when I was chasing storms in the Plains (he is on the left side of the picture with Todd Thorn and me standing next to each other). He is contracted by our sister station KCBD TV in Lubbock, TX to chase for them. He is known for getting up-close footage of tornadoes. He has caputrued more than 11 tornadoes so far this season on tape. This time he may have gotten too close... he explains in his own words below...

05/24/07Do You Ever Get Scared?

written by: David Drummond

I am often asked that by regular, non-storm chasing folks. I’ve gotten a little nervous from time to time, but what I am going to share with you is probably the scariest thing that has EVER happened to me in my entire life. It quite possibly changed me as a person and may possibly affect any future storm chasing I might do. In fact, I am not even sure at this point if I ever want to chase again. I am not much of a writer, so please bear with me...

On the night of 5/24/07, I ended up northwest of Canadian, TX on an absolutely incredibly intense supercell that I had been chasing since Stinnett, TX. I had already seen a couple of tornadoes and experienced some 2+ inch hail along with all the other chasers that got stuck on Hwy 70 by the Canadian River Valley.

I had just repositioned to re-intercept this storm NW of Canadian. The lightning was INCREDIBLE....continuous. Very much like strobe lights. It was very easy to see the storm structure/features. I could see a beautifully sculpted mesocyclone to my northwest with LOTS of scud/wall cloud activity under it. Inflow into this storm was in excess of 60 mph! It was HOWLING in to it!

It was not long until another tornado had formed, and then quickly dissipated, and then another. I was amazed there wasn't a wedge sized tornado down the whole time. I repositioned again to SW of Lipscomb. The storm had been tracking northeast and I was stair-stepping the roads northeast with it. There was a HUGE rotating bowl shape under this updraft. The lightning was so repetitive you could actually SEE the rotation. I don't recall EVER seeing something like that at night before.

It was time to reposition again and my plan was to go up Hwy 305 from Lipscomb where CR-N goes east. Every map I have looked at shows this road to be paved, and my Delorme mapping program on my laptop did as well...it was my next east option to stay out in front of the storm.

When I got to it...it was a MUD road...not paved at all. Earlier storms had made it unsafe as a chase road. Oh no! My next east option was several more miles north at Hwy 15. I could still see the mesocyclone to my NW and made a judgment call that I could "just" make it to that in time.

I could see a HUGE precipitation core to my west coming in and I KNEW there was HUGE hail in that, which I wanted to avoid. So I punched the accelerator and moved forward. What happened over the next half hour or so will be forever engrained in my memory.

As I proceeded quickly north, I could see some of the rain starting to wrap around the huge rotating lowering. The storm seemed to accelerate at this point, and what I didn't know at the time, but saw later on the radar loops, made a brief right turn and went due east. It was the combination of that and my originally planned east option being mud that almost cost me my life.

I floored it trying to hurry and get to Hwy 15, but it was just not meant to be. I became engulfed in the rain wrapping around the rotating lowered area, near the ground now. Visibility was ZERO and I could barely make out a center road stripe just off the left fender. This would become my guide for what seemed like an eternity.

Blinding rain and hail came from the west horizontally at well over 80 mph. I am pretty sure about the speeds because I was barely moving at the time and that was what the weather station on my vehicle was showing. All I could concentrate on was getting to Hwy 15 so I could blast east and get away from it.

Then the wind began to shift to the south, and was "pushing" me to the north. The rain was more like a vaporized mist/fog, moving very rapidly. Then it began to shift around in all sorts of directions. There was a little bit of small hail, but for the most part it was this very spooky, fast moving mist/fog that would shift around quickly from all directions, sometimes even going UP! If felt as if several people were outside my chase vehicle shaking it from different directions.

I thought “Oh my God, NOOOOO! OH please NO!” I knew there either was a tornado very nearby or was right on top of me. In my mind, I decided, “OK I would just stop where I was and maybe it will miss me”. That was a worse idea. It turned out that misty/foggy rain was actually moving at 107 mph and really WAS pushing me.

At this point I became more scared that I have ever been in my entire life. I have been in (and in close proximity to) low-end tornadoes before, but this was different somehow. I was never scared before. Perhaps it was because I knew this storm had the potential to produce a large and violent tornado? Perhaps it was being alone, at night in a very rural area? Perhaps it was the fact I couldn’t see a thing? I don’t know, but this time was different, I was scared beyond all belief that I was about to die. I would die alone.

Thoughts rapidly ran through my mind how to make the best outcome of this. I grabbed my cell phone and shoved it in my pocket, thinking if I got separated from my vehicle maybe I could call for help if I was injured. I fully believed I was about to be flung across the countryside. Despite all the stuff you hear about getting in low lying areas etc, there was no way I could even FIND a low lying area, and even if I could it was most likely flooded.

I saw some lights on the side of the road ahead, and thought there might be a house or something there. I could just barely make out the orange sodium lights. Just then, there were multiple green power flashes very near me...some sparks coming from some unknown place flying around with the rain/fog. I still could see nothing and KNEW I had to do something. I decided if the tornado was moving northeast as it had been, I could keep going north and it would move northeast away from me. I knew I would be in the precipitation core, but anything was better than the tornado! So on northward I crept. I am not very religious normally, but I began seriously praying to God. I guess the old saying is true...there are no atheists in a foxhole.

I was just saying out loud, “Oh please God don't let this be a tornado...please, please, please, oh God please”. That went on for some time. I could feel my heart racing and realized I had a death grip on the steering wheel with both hands. I have literally never been so scared in all my life and for the first time in my whole life I seriously thought I was about to die and there was literally nothing I could do at this point to prevent it.

I don't know how long this went on exactly. I was expecting side windows to be blown out at any time. I could hear stuff hitting the van...some of it I know wasn't hail. But nothing sounded big. I finally made my way to Hwy 15 and thought, “I could blast east now and escape this nightmare”. As I started heading east, it got even WORSE. I finally just stopped in the middle of the road, turned my windshield in to the wind, (which was coming from the northwest now)....in the middle of the road....and just stopped. I figured my windshield at least won't shatter like the side windows will. I briefly wondered again why they had not broken yet. I grabbed a thick towel I had in the vehicle and put it over my head and laid my seat back. I was shaking uncontrollably at this point and just praying it would be over soon. ...and then it all just stopped instantly. Just like that. I could see around me again!

There were no lights anywhere to be seen. No other cars, nothing. It was pitch black except for the lights from my vehicle. I straightened my vehicle up on the side of the road. It was still raining, but only lightly now. I quickly checked the radar to see just where I was in reference to the storm. To my surprise, my Sprint data card was still active and connected and feeding my radar. The worst had passed...although there were some other storms lining out to the southwest...but it looked like most of it was going to miss this area.

I had had enough. I was done chasing storms for the day. I just wanted to get home as fast as I could. I slowly drove back to the 305/15 intersection and turned south on 305. After a mile or so I saw several cows standing on the side of the road. They appeared to be injured...there was some blood, but nothing gushing and they were still walking. I think there were 3 of them. I continued on…

I saw a power pole with transformers lying beside the road. I was thinking to myself, “This isn’t good!”. I was STILL very much physically shaking. I then turned all the perimeter lights I have on my vehicle to light the area and proceeded slowly southward, thinking there might be some power lines on the road I didn’t want to drive in to. For three tenths of a mile, power poles and lines were strewn all about the area. Some poles were still standing and leaning way over and others were snapped off only a couple of feet above the ground. There were a lot of them. I began seeing parts of some trees. I could see some trees off the road that had that "tornado shredded" appearance that is unmistakable. Then I noted large and small pieces of mangled sheet metal strewn all over. I could see in the lightning it was all over the fields too, both east and west of the road. Some of it was wrapped around the tops of the downed power poles, as if it was wrapped on there before they went down. Some of the large water troughs used for cattle were lying around, some other stuff I couldn't identify. This is when it really hit me...I had been there...RIGHT THERE...just moments before. I don't know why, but I just immediately and uncontrollably began to cry. I really don’t even understand why actually. I am normally a very strong person in the face of difficult times and this was very uncharacteristic of me, but I guess it was partly in relief, maybe partly in thanks for what I had just survived. I felt a huge amount of tension drain out of me and I stopped shaking. For the first time in my life I believe I finally realized what tornado victims feel. I just sat there in the vehicle in the middle of the road and cried for a bit.

When I finally began to compose myself, I realized I STILL had not seen any other vehicles out there. I know this is a rural area, but there are some small towns near there. Were they not watching this storm? Did they get wiped out? I had no idea. But I remembered the sodium lights that went out earlier and thought there might be people living there, so I went looking for them. I did find them; they were flagging me down with a flashlight. Most of their property remained intact. It was an elderly couple and they were very much shook up. They said they thought their house was going to go. Sound like a jet was sitting on top of their house, they said, and they knew the roof was going to go any minute. They had heard the warning just before the power went out, but their cellar was outside and it hit so fast they could not even get to it. So they hid in their house. They were shook up, but OK. They were thankful I had checked on them. Seems the tornado passed just south of them, between their place and another one down the road. I could find no one home there. Between the two places the pivot irrigation systems had been mangled, almost beyond recognition.

She told me of a neighbor’s house on the small hill to her northwest. I later learned that house had a large metal barn. The type that would have had sheet metal like what I had seen strewn about the countryside. I could not see the house in the lightning, and the road to it was mud and covered in power lines. As of this writing I don't know if it was intact or not. The last volunteer firefighter I talked to said they had not been able to reach the people on the phone.

It was about that time I realized something. There was a lot of this debris lying around....exactly in the location where I had just experienced all that I have just told you about. I had been there...in the middle of all the chaos. Yet, somehow...I remained untouched by ANY of it. Not a single piece of it hit me. Aside from a few new hail dents, not a single bit of damage to my vehicle. Not a single power pole lay on the pavement. Not a single piece of power line was on the pavement. In fact....there wasn't even as much as a piece of vegetation on the pavement. It was very unsettling as you always at least see leaves and grass and rocks plastered on the pavement when a tornado passes. Not this time. The route through the mess remained clear. How could this happen? How did all of that stuff flying around miss me?

I ended up calling the Amarillo National Weather Service, reporting what I was seeing. Then I went to the nearby small community of Darrouzett, TX to tell them what had happened. They had just got their power back on and were sending some volunteers out already.

I tried to make my way back home and it was difficult finding a way out of the area. Many roads were either blocked with debris from the storms or flooded and low crossings.

I can't explain what happened to me or rather what didn't happen to me, other than someone was definitely looking out for me. How I made it through that unscathed is beyond my comprehension right now. Perhaps guardian angles really do exist? I am still very emotional about this today. As of this moment, I don't even want to ever chase another storm again. I have seen much over the last 23 years, but maybe it's time to move on to something else. I don't know, maybe I will feel differently in a few days, or when the next severe weather setup comes around. But right now, I just want some nice days with no significant weather to deal with.

I may get blasted or ridiculed by certain other storm chasers for sharing this. I really don't care. It was a trying, horrifying and extremely emotional experience. I feel like I would be letting myself and others down if I didn't share it. I feel like I HAVE to share it to get past it somehow.

For the first time in my chasing career, I feel like I finally understand the tornado fear.....